Classic ROCK or Classic HITS

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I've done several posts on rock radio, but once thing that has been going on a lot is that many people tend to think that  classic hits and classic rock stations are one and the same as many of their songs overlap. Despite that simillarity, however, they are two totally different things.

What's the big difference?

 In the past, (90s and through about the mid 2010s) classic hits stations featured some of the many hits heard on classic rock. I remember hearing abbreviated versions of Foghat's Slow Ride, or an edit of Manfred Mann's cover of Springsteen's Blinded by the Light. Classic hits stations have featured hits from the Doors, but artists like Bowie or Led Zeppelin only play in handful. I have heard Stairway to Heaven in its entirety (you read right - all 8 minutes) on a classic hits station.

Now something that sets these two apart, classic hits also go pop. You'll never hear Dancing Queen on your classic rock station or rarely even Alone by Heart (even though classic rock stations tend to feature a lot of their 1970s catalog. Hey, after all they were "Led Zeppelin with a female lead singer" back then. Weren't they?

Prog rock is also rare on classic hits (even short songs like 1st Impression/Part 2 of Karn Evil 9. I will say that there usually is (was?) a lot of "poppy" Yes (a la Owner of a Lonely Heart) or Genesis from the Collins era from 1978 onward, but no Pink Floyd EXCEPT FOR the OCCASSIONAL spinning, even now, of Another Brick in The Wall Part 2 albeit an edit without the helicopters.

Another difference, classic hits, being higher on pop, feature 90s music as of late and even some 2000s, which hurts me because I do understand that the term "classic" may ha changed, I feel we do need to preserve the history of what really is "classic."

What's the takeaway?

 If you want to hear album versions of songs (after all classic rock is modeled after album rock), tune into your local classic rock station. If you want a handful of rock but more pop as well, classic hits are for you. Want more prog rock, classic rock (though limited now sadly). Want less "newer" music? Also classic rock.

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